Chapter 2 and 3

Chapter 2: Flu day.


After doing extensive research; which I wished I knew back in 2007. As we have discussed there is a such thing about workplace bullying. Six months into working at HT; I got the flu. I thought I was being a good worker by suffering through and going to work. At the time, I knew I was sick but wasn't aware that I had the flu. I was also up for my six month review. So my boss asked me to meet her at the office. I walked in and "Alan" immediately says, "Ewww, are you going to market looking like that"? I said to him well I don't feel well. He said to me I am not sure what kind of impression you would be making for HT. I would not want you to go out representing our company looking like that. These were just a few of the comments Alan took pleasure into saying to me. I ended up going home that day and went to Quick Care with a 104 temperature. I went to Alan’s manager with my boss to discuss his comment and if I thought I was going to get support from her as a professional; boy I was fooled. Instead, her reply was “ I am sure Alan didn’t mean it like you took it”. First time, I tried to bring his behavior to the higher ups this is what I get! I am not one to judge and if a person claims to be a good Christian then that is great. I just have a hard time with someone who brings up Jesus every time you turn around and then is cruel to others. This was Alan’s way of doing things. So that being said, he had most everyone in upper management fooled. He would just quote some scripture and they were sure he was a good person. Beware though; the Bible says that even Satan could quote scripture. It does make you wonder, doesn’t it? It couldn’t be him and I was just misunderstanding his meaning those were the exact words from his bosses. This goes to show what kind of person I was dealing with. He was smart and he knew how to work people. Instead of being concerned for me he took every opportunity to make me feel less than. I realize now that he had major inferiority issues and for whatever reason; I was a threat to him. The best defense to people like him is to give immediate feedback. I should have said, "Alan, I am not feeling well today but I feel like you are criticizing my physical appearance, am I hearing you right". People like "Alans" are cowards and once confronted will back down quickly. If problem persists make sure you document and take it up the chain of command. If you go to their manager and you don’t get results you think are appropriate then document and go directly to the HR manager. Don’t be like me and hope that the situation will fix itself because it won’t. Make sure you keep detailed and accurate records about all of their comments. I didn’t have the adequate support from upper management and I was told by the owner “to duke it” out with Alan. As you can see, there was an intense lack of support from upper management.

Chapter 3: Facts about workplace bullying.
According to Moira Jenkins author of “Is mediation suitable for workplace bullying”, there is no uniform definition of workplace bullying. In Europe they have started putting firm definitions in place to combat the expense to corporations that workplace bullying causes. “Unlike normal conflict, bullying is viewed in this way as an escalating process where the target is placed in a more and more inferior position to the bully,” (Jenkins, 2011). In my situation, the problem would cycle. It would escalate and then calm down. For whatever reason, Alan had me convinced that he had influence over my job. Even though I knew he was viewed as my peer; I thought that upper management put more credence in his opinions than they did mine. I was a marketing rep and that meant I needed to be out in the field to market our company. The first year that I was at HT; during the month of October Alan had called me in to “answer” the phones a total of ten days. Because of me be out of the field this affected my numbers and then he would then call my boss and tell her he believed I wasn’t really working.
“According to the WBI, 35 percent of U.S. workers have experienced workplace bullying firsthand- that translates to more than 53 million people.” (Walter, 2013). This means that workplace bullying is 4 times more prevalent than illegal harassment. I had other jobs before HT and I had coworkers that I didn’t particularly like but we were professional and avoided each other. When I figured out that Alan had a problem with me; I thought it would be like the rare situations that I had before. I figured we would be cordial to each other and then avoid each other. He wouldn’t let me avoid him and he made sure he was in my face or on the phone checking up on me every chance he got. I didn’t do my research when I worked at HT if I had I might have been properly educated on workplace bullying. Hindsight is definitely 20/20! “Workplace bullying is becoming a core issue for the organizations now a days. Employers and management scholars are paying lot of attention towards effective dealing of bullying. Bullying reduces the organizational performance by effecting the employee performance through both absenteeism and employee turnover from the organization”(Rasool, Arzu, Hasan, Rafi, & Kashif, 2013). The first year at HT, I used every one of my sick days. I had accrued ten sick days and they were used. I was so stressed that my immune system was down. This was very unproductive for me and my employer. If the situation was addressed in the way that it needed to be then I would have never used my entire sick days.